Where did December go?

Christmas has changed a lot over the years. Because of the anticipation of running down stairs to see the presents from Santa under the tree, December would pass by slowly when I was a kid. Nowadays, December goes by quickly and next thing you know, its New Year's eve. 

When I was young, all I needed to worry about was putting out cookies and milk for Santa. In my family there are no children, therefore Santa is just a memory. 

Now, I need to find time to go to the mall and spend the limited amount of money I have on my family members. On top of the stress of finding the perfect gift for everyone, end of the year essays and other culminating for school push you to spend hours to work on them until they are perfect.

This is why the two week brake is necessary. Being a teenager, it is difficult to work on homework while on brake, so a lot of assignments are put off until the last moment.

While getting older, the festive spirit that once filled my thoughts and made me jump with excitement has disappeared. December goes by in a blur, all the Christmas treats disappear and next thing I know I'm in school studying for exams.  

It is sad that getting older effects the way we see Christmas and we can't make it the same as it once was. 

Journalistic Ethics

Former journalist Stephen Glass

Stephen Glass once was a successful journalist, but not all good things last. Although Stephen's news reports were supposedly phenomenal, they were all fabricated. Stephen went his entire career making up stories and publishing them, but one may wonder how he didn't get caught earlier - he went through great lengths to keep it a secret. Stephen would make up fake voicemail's, create fake websites, make fabricated business cards, and fill notebooks with interviews that were not real. Stephen was a journalist for over three years, and once he was caught it was discovered that as many as half his stories were fabrications. A writer for Forbes Magazine, Adam Penenberg was the one to catch Stephen. 

When Stephan was  caught, he apologized for creating false work, however apologizing would not take back his three years of continuous lies. One may not think his situation is worth imprisonment, however Stephen could go to jail for fraud. If not that, then it would make sense for him to pay back all of the money he earned from publishing false stories.

This case became known and there was a movie made called "Shattered Glass," where it plays out his life and what went through to keep up the fabricated stories. 

'Shattered Glass' movie poster